This unusual tractor was built by Fowler in 1877. The huge, eye-catching 12-foot (3.66 m) wheels were designed to reduce ground pressure and improve traction in soft ground. These wheels also served as a reduction gear, "helping" the not very powerful steam engine to pull the clumsy tractor.
The steam engine installed on the Fowler Steeplechaser was high-speed and fairly compact. Double cylinders were installed above the firebox. The front crankshaft drove a countershaft that passed from the boiler through a two-stage gear and differential. The gears at each end of this countershaft were meshed with a circular rack bolted inside the rim of each rear wheel. For stability and rigidity, there were also road wheels inside each rear wheel: wheels within wheels.
Such a solution has turned out - a gear-wheel. Apparently quite reliable, but not particularly durable. Both "gears" were forced to work for wear and tear - under a constant high load, and even, in fact, in the ground, dirt and dust. Unsurprisingly, this machine was too clumsy to be useful. But that didn't stop Fowlers from building a similar machine two years later with reduced 9-foot (2.7 m) impellers.
The toothed wheels were shifted from constant contact with the mud, the track rollers that were not justified were removed and the spokes of the wheels began to work as they should, providing the necessary rigidity of the structure. But … it's time to move on, this fantastic design was replaced by more advanced closed gearboxes, chains, etc. And more such an unusual design by the company (and indeed by anyone) was not used.
